December 15, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
533 
FRUIT—A PLETHORA OF VARIETIES. 
Under the above heading a correspondent on page 500 of your 
valuable paper of December 8th mentions my collection of Apples 
exhibited at the Hereford Fruit Show, and goes on to ask if it is a 
healthy sign to find so many varieties offered to the public. I may 
say that my collection contained about 270 distinct varieties, with about 
thirty varieties of Pears, but not including cider Apples, which were in 
a separate collection shown in a different part of the building. W hen I 
mention the fact that it was subdivided into four different divisions 
viz., The best Apples to grow for market (containing only about 
twenty-five varieties), a general collection of culinary Apples, a general 
collection of dessert Apples, and the best flavoured dessert Apples 
(containing about thirty varieties), and that on the name card attached 
to each variety a few words were added as to its season, qualities, &c., 
not always praising it, but when necessary showing its bad qualities, 
as “ Cellini, liable to canker on some soils,” “ Old Golden Pippin, too 
small,” &c., I think even your correspondent will acknowledge that a 
large collection may be educational. I think myself that it is often 
very much so, as it shows growers, side by side, with varieties of which 
they have had a high opinion, other sorts greatly superior. 
I think such collections are quite as instructive, if not more so, as 
small collections (shown for competition), which usually contain a good 
proportion of sorts useful for exhibition only. My chief object in writ¬ 
ing is not, however, to describe my own collection, but to open up 
the subject as to whether our nurserymen can reduce their lists, and if 
so to what extent; and [ think your correspondent will find this a 
much more difficult question to answer than he thinks. A nurseryman 
who does more than a local trade has to cater for different persons, who 
look at fruit growing from very many points of view. . 1st, There is 
“ the grower for market only ; ” 2nd, “ The grower for private consump¬ 
tion only ; ” 3rd, “ The grower who likes to exhibit sometimes ; ” and 
then there is “ the grower who makes a hobby of fruit growing, who 
takes a pleasure in seeing the variations in colour, size, and qualities of 
the different varieties ; who likes to test those sorts, new or unknown to 
him, and find out their suitability for his soil or climate, without 
thought of profit.” I will treat first with “ the grower for market.” 
I have never advocated that the grower for market should go in for 
a large number of varieties, and in a short paper 1 read before our local 
Chamber of Agriculture in 1885, almost before the revival in fruit grow¬ 
ing began, on “ Profitable Fruit Culture,” I said, “ Do not plant too 
many sorts; plant sufficient of each variety to pay you to pick and 
market a bulk of each variety separately.” These are still my views ; in 
my own plantations I have planted to grow fruit for market. I do not 
think I exceed eighteen varieties, but if I lived in a different county, or 
on a different soil or even aspect, it is very likely these sorts would be 
greatly changed. My advice to growers for market has always been, Test 
fresh varieties on a small scale, find out those sorts which suit you, and 
plant those only largely. „ T „ , . 
2nd, There is “ the grower for private consumption. 1 hud tastes 
vary in Apples as in other things. There are many different tastes ; 
some like a highly aromatic Apple, others a sharp crisp one, others again 
a soft-fleshed Apple. They also want more variety and sorts to last in 
succession over as long a season as possible, and to meet all requirements 
as dessert or cooking Apples. Many do not look at the cost of produc¬ 
tion so long as they can have Apples of their own growth. 
3rd. There is “ the grower for exhibition,” who likes to have handsome 
dishes of fruit for showing or on his table, independent of whether they 
are heavy croppers, or of g»od quality for dessert or cooking. There is 
also “ the grower for pleasure.” Why should not such a man have as 
great a variety of Apples as well as flowers ? A beautiful Apple gives 
as much pleasure to a pomologist as a beautiful flower to a florist. 
Attain if there were no growers who tested new or little known varieties, 
when would the qualities of those come to light ? Your correspondent’s 
own list contains sorts not long introduced and which have been little 
tested yet on a large scale and in different localities. We can advance 
in varieties of Apples as in other things. 
To add to all this, there are “ varieties most suitable to grow as 
dwarfs,” “ varieties most suitable to grow as standards,” and others 
“ most suitable for ornamental planting, either for the beauty of their 
fruit or flowers,” “ vaiieties most suitable for different climates, 
localities, or soils, north, south, east, or west.” In either of these 
localities I could name Apples known chiefly or only locally, and hardly 
ever seen in a nurseryman’s catalogue, which succeed admirably in their 
respective districts, and are known well in them for their good qualities, 
and which withal sell well in their markets. Your correspondent gives 
a list of forty-three varieties, which he states “ we really cannot do 
without,” and of course does so honestly, from his point of view and 
experience ; but I could name scores of varieties which from my point of 
view are far better than at least one-third of them. Besides my full 
catalogue I issue a short one, containing only about fifty varieties or 
Apples, which I believe from my experience to be most reliable. But 
how often am I asked for my full catalogue, as the sort wanted and 
thought most of is not in the shorter one ? . . 
G Your correspondent asks how many varieties are grown in America, 
and queries “ Not 270 by any means.” I have a catalogue before me, 
issued by one of the largest firms of nurserymen in the United States, 
who have 175 names of Apples down in their list, and sixty-eight of 
these they recommend for extended cultivation; but, strange to say, 
there are only twenty of all these I have ever heard of as being 
cultivated in England, and only seven which are anything like in 
general cultivation here. So I think it is more than probable that at 
least 270 varieties of Apples are grown in America. I think where the 
Americans chiefly beat us is that they only send us their best fruit, 
properly graded and packed, keeping their inferior at home for other 
purposes ; but this matter is gradually being righted, as we are going 
forward, and the Americans, if anything, are going back in this 
respect. 
In conclusion, I think that only when nurserymen have to cater for 
the wants of growers for market in Kent, or the old redsand formation 
of Herefordshire, or any other favoured locality, will the nurseryman’s 
list of sorts who has more than a local trade, be within your correspon¬ 
dent’s ideal number.— John Watkins. 
IXIA LILIES. 
The two “ Ixia Lilies ” known to horticulturists—namely, Ixiolirion 
montanum and I. tataricum, are both attractive border plants, and form 
welcome additions to any collection of hardy favourites. They are 
suggestive of Camassia esculenta in the form and colour of the flowers, 
FIG. 71.—IXIOLIRION MONTANUM. 
especially the first-named, which is represented in the woodcut (fig. 71), 
but they are not quite so strong growing as that, though very free and 
floriferous. I. montanum has been found in Persia upon the hills about 
Teheran and in other similar districts of temperate Asia. It is quite 
hardy in the neighbourhood of London permanently planted out in the 
borders. A moderately good soil appears to suit it better than one that 
is very rich, as in the latter case the growth is excessively luxuriant and 
the flowers proportionately few. In a well-drained position, where the 
bulbs become thoroughly matured, flowers are annually produced very 
freely, and are not only attractive in the borders, but afford a useful supply 
for cutting, the bright purplish blue colour being most agreeable for 
associating with the numerous other tints, which are more common. 
I. tataricum differs little from the preceding, and the cultural obser¬ 
vations are equally applicable to both. This species has more expanded, 
less tubular flowers than the other, and the colour also is rather lighter, 
though this varies to some extent in different plants according to the 
situation they occupy and their vigour. It is also more limited in 
